Farm to Fork Panel a Success
By DAN SULLIVAN
JEFFERSON
Thursday, March 7 was the date of an unusual event at the Mill Pond Inn and Tavern in Jefferson, 22 miles south of Cooperstown. There, a cooperative venture involving four entities held a Farm To Fork panel discussion and question and answer session between two farmers and two restauranteurs. Officially called the Mohawk Valley Farmer Restauranteur Workshop, the event drew a crowd of 50, mostly Otsego and Schoharie county residents, who were treated to thoughtful discussions as well as a mouthwatering luncheon courtesy of Dave Savatteri, owner of the Mill Pond and a panel participant.
The four-person panel, moderated by Heather Devitt of Mohawk Valley Economic Development District, represented a balance between both small and medium-sized farms and restaurants. In addition to Savatteri, restaurateur Dominick Purnomo of the Dominick Purnomo Restaurant Group took part. Purnomo operates two restaurants in Albany and the Hudson Valley; the Mill Pond is Savatteri’s lone establishment. Similarly, the farms reflected the same size range. Dave Reardon operates Hidden Pond Gardens in Richmondville, specializing in microgreens and vegetables in season, while Dave Raylinsky operates Highland Hollow Farm in Schoharie, raising beef cattle in a mid-size operation. Moderator Devitt guided the panelists through a series of topics, such as challenges of distribution, handling operational costs, and pricing products, and the responses from the panelists were thought-provoking for the audience, prompting a subsequent Q&A which was very productive.
One thread which ran through all the talk was the consistent reference to New York—especially Mohawk Valley—farmland as being as good as, or better than, any other region in the nation.
“People just don’t realize the amazing gift we have under our feet here,” said Raylinski. “The very high quality of our agricultural products comes as a result of our phenomenal soils.”
Indeed, as Purnomo pointed out, Highland Hollow beef is in high demand among many of New York’s high-end restaurants. Another concern voiced by all panelists was the need to establish a regional food distribution system so that local farmers can get products to market. Known as food hubs, these have been tried with limited success in the region. Farm2Tables, in the Hudson Valley, is the most successful such operation in upstate, according to Purnomo, who utilizes it to supply his two restaurants.
The organizers of the Farm to Fork Forum—Cass Harrington of Destination Marketing, Nick Kossman, development specialist for agricultural business, Schoharie County Office for Agricultural Development, and Devitt—plan to hold future events of a similar nature at different locations in the Mohawk Valley.
“While we started out calling this a Schoharie Agricultural Roundtable, we quickly realized that the Mohawk Valley needed a way to engage with farmers, agribusinesses, and restauranteurs, and to address the need across the region for an easy-to-find, navigable place for those in agriculture,” explained Devitt. “Thus, we hope to replicate this event in other places in the Mohawk Valley.”
Future Farm to Fork events promise to be just as stimulating—and tasty—as the first one.